TEMPO/Next Year Indonesians Will be Richer

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Bank Indonesia has estimated that next year per capita income will increase to US$2,000 per year.

This is equivalent to Rp18.2 million per year at an exchange rate of Rp9,100 against the US dollar, or Rp1.5 million per month.

This year, per capita income is US$1,800 per year.

“This means that Indonesian people are becoming richer,” said Halim Alamsyah, Director of the Banking Assessment and Regulation Directorate, during the “ABN Amro: Economic & Banking Outlook 2008” seminar in Jakarta yesterday (12/12).

He explained that the per capita income increase is by assuming the country's economic growth to be 6.8 percent and inflation only four or five percent.

According to Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, an economist at the Danareksa Research Institute, an increase in per capita income to US$2,000 is very probable, assuming that this year's economic growth, 6.3 percent, is maintained.

However, he went on to say that what was important was not per capita income increase, but rather per capita prosperity.

A similar opinion was conveyed by Fadhil Hasan, Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance.

He said he was also certain that per capita income would very likely undergo an increase.

“On condition that economic growth must be above six percent,” he told Koran Tempo.

However, according to him, economic growth above six percent cannot be an indication that a lot of Indonesian people are already rich.

“It's more appropriate to say that the public wealth is higher,” said Fadhil.

Whoop de doo! US$ 200 a year richer. Given the countries vast reserves of Oil, Gas, Minerals and other natural resources I'm sure that number could be significantly enhanced rather than national companies making obscene profits.